Before the third album, Samba Poconé, which sold 1.5 million copies,
Calango, the second, with its 1,100,000 copies sold, helped
Skank to sell 2.6 million CDs in 1996. The album is named after a folkloric rhythm of the home state of its members, Minas Gerais. The calango is a cutting contest between two cantadores who improvise verses and is absorbed, amidst liberties, in "A Cerca." The band also re-recorded the
Roberto Carlos hit "É Proibido Fumar." Social criticism is present in "A Esmola," one of the songs that had its authorship claimed by the Bahian poet Ajax, who suited the band. The album works wonderfully in the dance tracks mixing rock, reggae, dancehall, and even baião. ~ Alvaro Neder